No significant relationship between effect of maternal diet quality indices on neonatal thyroid function: Study

Diet is one of the lifestyle factors that influence the risk of thyroid disorders. The neonatal thyroid is very sensitive to variations in maternal dietary intake. Neonatal TSH levels could show the intake of some nutrients including iodine during pregnancy. A healthy diet includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish and contains useful micronutrients that are important for thyroid function. These findings showed the importance of maternal diet during pregnancy on neonatal TSH levels. Proper nutrition and healthy dietary pattern may improve maternal thyroid function.

The thyroid health of neonates has a significant effect on brain development. Maternal and infant factors affect infant TSH and thyroid hormone levels. However, conflicting findings have been reported. Authors hypothesized that since maternal nutrition affects birth weight and offspring growth, it may also impact endocrine patterns in offspring. There is some evidence related to single nutrients and thyroid function. However, there is few evidence related to specific dietary patterns and thyroid function. In fact, no studies have yet assessed the possible impact of maternal DPI on neonatal thyroid function. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the association between maternal DPI on neonatal cord blood thyroid hormone levels.

This cross-sectional study is a substudy of a birth cohort. Overall, 216 mothers, aged 16–45 years, were recruited in their first trimester of pregnancy. To calculate DPI, the daily energy percentage of phytochemical-rich foods was divided by the total daily energy intake. At delivery time, TSH and free thyroxine (FT4) levels were measured in cord blood samples using chemiluminescence immunoassay. Results: The mean (standard deviation (SD)) age of mothers was 29.56 (5.50) years, and 47% of newborns were girls. The mean (SD) of DPI in the first, second, third, and fourth quartiles was 25 03 ± 4 67, 33 87 ± 2 18, 40 64 ± 2 10, and 51 17 ± 4 98, respectively. There was not any significant correlation between DPI score with cord serum TSH and FT4 levels in crude and adjusted analysis.

In the present study, the DPI score was not associated with neonatal TSH and FT4 levels. So, no significant association between neonatal thyroid function and maternal diet quality index was shown in the present study. In previous studies, no association was observed between diet and weight gain during pregnancy with cord blood TSH levels.

The present study reports no significant relationship between maternal DPI with neonatal TSH and FT4 levels. The amount of foods rich in phytochemical compound consumption can be important, and their beneficial effects may be shown with high consumption. There is little information about the impact of maternal DPI on fetal and neonatal thyroid function. It highlights the need for further studies to investigate the impacts of maternal quality of diet on neonatal thyroid dysfunction.

Source: Vida Hashemi Dehkordi, Mehri Khoshhali, Motahar Heidari-Beni; Wiley Journal of Pregnancy Volume 2024, Article ID 9558023, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9558023